Me & Joshua Matthews
by teatart
Summary: What was worse? Seeing a guy that you embarrassingly fawned over for so long or being partnered up with your ex best friend? Unfortunately, Maya Hart was stuck with both.
1. you're paired up with a waiting lady?

**a|n - first joshaya story, hope i did okay!**

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><p>Everything seemed normal.<p>

The sun shined brightly through Maya's sheer curtain and into her sleepy blue eyes. A horrible thought appeared in her head as she twisted her small body to go back to sleep.

School.

High school to be more specific which seemed like the calamity of the teen race. But just as she did every week for five days, Maya got up and made her way to the kitchen where her step dad, Shawn Hunter waited with breakfast.

Shawn differentiated himself from Maya's biological father in many ways. The obvious one being that Shawn cared about her like she was his own while her father couldn't care less. But one that always made her smile every morning was the fact that Shawn never cooked. He tried once and it was a disaster, tons of smoke and white foam from the fire extinguisher.

On the table was a brown paper bag that Maya knew had her usual breakfast sandwich from a store around the corner. There was also a small paper coffee cup which she was more than happy to see.

"If your mom asks, it's decaf." Said Shawn once Maya sat down and grabbed the coffee.

The girl rolled her eyes, "She won't. She never does."

It came as a shock that Maya's mom had the chance to meet and fall in love with Shawn. Because she never seemed to have time for her daughter though Maya tried not to take it personally, her mom has been lonely for quite some time and Shawn was an amazing person to have in your life.

But it still stung when Shawn would pretend that Maya had a regular mom. She knew she only had half a mother and learned to live with it.

"Maya—" Shawn started but she cut him off, not wanting to listen to his long speech about her mom loving her.

"I gotta get dressed or I'll be late." And they both knew the conversation was over.

[*]

Farkle pulled up to her the front of her apartment in his beat up dark green 2000 Honda. The brisk March air blew at her jean clad legs before she got in the car to meet Farkle and his bright turtleneck.

"You know it's not that cold outside, I don't understand why you have to wear that everyday." Said Maya as Farkle pulled away from her block and began driving.

"I'm a fashion icon at John Quincy Adams High and I need to uphold my reputation. If anyone else is wearing a turtleneck, they're pulling a Farkle."

She rolled her eyes but an amused smile played on her lips. Farkle definitely wasn't your average guy. And he's been this bold since they were in diapers. Maya could remember, Farkle was the one that stood out from the three of them.

Maya, Farkle and Riley...

The two of them had a good ten minutes to go to their shared locker before class started and it just so happened that they had their locker right in front of miss tall and beautiful herself.

There at her locker was Riley Matthews, their ex best friend.

She was slathering pink lip gloss on her lips while glancing in her compact mirror. The sight made Maya nauseous. Things changed completely since freshman year...

And like clockwork, Missy showed up with two other look a likes by her side and a pained looking Lucas Friar behind her.

That poor boy became her personal toy the moment he stepped into the school building. Maya almost felt bad for him if it wasn't for the fact that she knew how much of a coward he was. That was the only reason she "didn't care" when Missy glared at Riley like an insect before plastering a dazzling smile on her face.

"I feel so honored seeing royalty altogether." Farkle whispered and Maya chuckled faintly.

[*]

Everything seemed normal.

Her classes were tolerable until she went to her eighth period.

English was dull and boring as usual with the exception of the texts Maya would get from Farkle. Then something odd happened.

"That's it! Everyone get off your phone!" She screamed. And it was unusual because Ms. Kelly never yelled or got angry. She was so calm that some people accused her of being a pothead. But that also had something to do with her long frizzy mousy brown hair.

All eyes were on her instantly. Even the royals gave her their undivided attention.

"Children of this generation truly are a disappointment. You all are looking down at your phones in your laps! Talk, learn, live a little bit!" Her small figure practically begged the class. Then her eyes lit up in a way that Maya's never seen before.

It almost worried her.

"I'll be giving all of you an assignment and you'll be working in pairs." Maya could hear chairs being pushed back and voices of people claiming their partner.

"But I will be deciding them." said Ms. Kelly and everyone stopped. She smiled when they did before returning to the middle of the classroom again.

Everyone returned to their seat grumbling about how unfair the class was. But Ms. Kelly didn't seem to care in the slightest. Quickly she read off names as people went to their partners,

"Brandon and Sarah."

"Darby and Isadora."

Maybe if Maya's life was full of surprises, she would've expected to be put with someone she didn't like.

Missy Bradford, for example.

But Ms. Kelly did her one better.

"Maya and Riley." Ms. Kelly called out and Maya's stomach dropped. She dared herself to look over at Riley who didn't seem to like the arrangement either. That, or she saw who Missy's partner was.

The cowboy.

Reluctantly, Maya grabbed her stuff and moved to Riley's desk three seats in front of her. She could already hear Farkle's teasing. Of course, she would be partnered up with Riley.

Avoiding her eyes was Maya's main goal in the class.

"You'll be answering twenty questions about the other and I expect this back in two weeks. Spend time together, speak to people who aren't in your clique, learn new things about people you won't see after you graduate in June."

Her inspirational speech was ended dramatically by the bell ringing and Maya was grateful. After she left the classroom, it was like the air came back to her lungs. She had to answer questions about Riley, a girl she hardly knew anymore.

[*]

"You get to work with one of the queen's waiting ladies? What an honor." Said Farkle on the way back to Maya's apartment.

Maya didn't feel like smacking Farkle, she was too busy thinking about how awkward the next two weeks would be for her. Would they bring up freshman year? Would they talk about what happened?

Would they go back to how it was before?

Farkle's stop at her house pulled her out of her reverie. And she pushed Riley Matthews to the back of her mind like she usually did.

The pair walked in to Shawn talking to someone in a hushed serious tone on the phone. Farkle waved hello while Maya shot him a concerned look which he didn't seem to notice.

She almost brought up the topic to Farkle but he had already gone on his rant about Isadora Smackle and how obsessed she was with him.

The girl really couldn't get enough. She would send him flowers and "secret" admirer notes, the worst part is that she's probably done that since they were kids. Telling Farkle that he was so handsome and that he looked extra dashing was part of Isadora's daily vocabulary.

When Farkle left, she felt drained. The day at school had done in her in though. Her old friend kept popping up when Maya tried to sleep.

Defeated, she got up to drink something but stopped before turning to go into the kitchen. Shawn was talking to someone at the door in the same tone of voice as before and Maya peeked to see who.

For the second time that day, Maya was shocked, standing in her living room was the boy she remembered fawning over for so long when she was in middle school.

Joshua Matthews.


	2. love you too

**a|n - thank you so much for the support on the story! You guys are amazing x [i'll also be posting every saturday]**

** ReeseRowanPeyton - i chose to not make riley and maya friends because it seemed more interesting to see how their lives played out without each other.**

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><p>She was nervous.<p>

Her palms were sweating and she was wiping them furiously on her plaid pajama pants while mentally cursing Joshua Matthews for making her so nervous. Carefully, she tiptoed back to her room, going through possible reasons as to why Joshua Matthews (who grew more handsome to her dismay) would be in their apartment with two suitcases.

Was he moving in?

Was Shawn pranking her again? Last time, she remembered that he had placed a fake snake under her bed for April Fool's Day and her mother had slapped him. But this didn't even compare to snakes (her biggest fear) because though snakes were terrifying, Joshua gave her a different kind of fright.

Because she hadn't doodled her first name with the last name of a snake over and over again in her notebooks. She hadn't planned out which day would be best to be married or how he would ask. Thinking about it, she cringed under her blankets, she was so immature.

There was a bigger and better question that was on her mind though, why was Joshua here and not at his brother's house?

[*]

In the morning, she woke up to laughter.

It was strange because it was normally quiet with Shawn occasionally putting on 90's alternative music. But this was just weird, she stretched her arms and rubbed her gummy eyes before walking into a scene in the kitchen that looked the opposite of Shawn's mood yesterday. There was a stack of fresh pancakes in the middle of their dark wooden circle table and three plates laid out.

Josh and Shawn's had syrup residue and bits of pancake on it, while the other one had two pancakes that were untouched.

Their laughter stopped so they could look at her, Maya refused to make eye contact with Josh, "There's my favorite girl! Good morning! Josh made us pancakes." Shawn cheered and it worried her. He only called her his favorite girl when something was up. Being gutsy, she sneaked a peek at Josh who still had pancakes in his mouth and looked like the cutest version of a human chipmunk she's ever seen.

Gosh, she was pathetic.

"Good morning, Maya!" His muffled voice said as he tried to smile.

"'Morning." She muttered before taking a seat by Shawn and eating her pancakes while the other two discussed small topics like sports. It was unusually casual and Maya felt slightly annoyed being out of the loop.

Her thoughts of paranoia were proven right when she was out the door to go meet Farkle and she heard their voices die down. She heard their voices again as she put her ear to the door but they were speaking so softly that the topic of conversation was hard to understand.

Groaning under her breath, she stomped outside to where her friend was waiting.

"I'm telling you, Farkle. Something is up. Shawn never keeps secrets from me, we practically tell each other everything. It definitely involves Josh but I just don't understand why he would bring him here and then not explain why."

"Maybe he wanted to help you rekindle your middle school romance." Farkle made kissing noises and it took all the self control she had to not slap him while he was looking for a place to park.

He spotted one and it seemed that so did the royals. They swiftly parked the black Range Rover that Missy had bragged so much about getting last year, in the place Farkle was beginning to pull into. Farkle hit the brakes and Maya flew forward hitting her forehead on the dashboard. Holding her throbbing head, she glared at the smirking face of Missy Bradford.

"Oops. I guess you'll have to be faster next time." Her complete court was there. Sarah, Darby, Riley and Lucas. Though Darby and Sarah were smirking along with their ring leader, the other two seemed uncomfortable being there.

Not being able to think of something on the spot, Maya flipped her off. Though Maya didn't see it, Riley's lips curved up into a small smile that left as soon as it came.

Maya felt her blood boil as she and Farkle spent the next twenty minutes looking for a place to park. She hated all of them. Every single member that was considered, "royalty".

[*]

Ms. Kelly hadn't forgotten about the assignment she gave the day before. Though everyone in class was hoping and praying that she did. The only person that was actually happy about who they were paired with was Missy and it was because she loved to throw herself at Lucas and now she could spend the next three weeks in class doing just that.

There was a list of questions that the pairs were meant to answer were given out by Ms. Kelly who seemed to be enjoying the fact that everyone else was miserable.

First question made Maya roll her eyes.

**What's your full name?**

Were they for real? She didn't need to exactly speak to Riley, she could just fill this out herself. _Riley_ _Elliot_ _Matthews_, Maya wrote down. The next question was when was your birthday then asked what her favorite color was.

_December_ _8th_

She was just beginning to write down purple when Riley's dainty hand came over her pale one.

"I guess this isn't going to be as easy as we thought." She said with a smile. Maya looked over at her paper and realized that she had filled out everything as well. Maybe, Riley actually appreciated their friendship and didn't discard the memories like she had originally thought. She could say with pride that their friendship was ten times better than the one she currently has with Missy.

"Why? You don't like purple anymore?" It came out more bitter than Maya would've liked but she didn't like thinking about how much she didn't know about Riley now. Missy probably knew more at this point.

Riley let out a breathy laugh, "No. I actually really like the color green."

Unlike her partner, Maya stuck with her color that she chose when she was a child, yellow.

A sigh escaped as she realized that they would actually have to talk to each other to complete the assignment, "Okay, is your favorite movie still _Titanic_?"

"No," She replied sheepishly, "It's _Tangled_. Has yours changed to anything?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted Riley to know that she's the only one that's changed. High school put their friendship to the test and they _– _no Riley failed. But sadly, Shawn had made her watch old 80's movies and it her favorite movie went from, _Twilight _to _The Goonies._

Riley grinned when Maya mentioned Shawn in her explanation of her change in movies and Maya almost brought up how Josh was in her apartment but she decided against it. She didn't need to know. They weren't friends and it wasn't any of Maya's business to be spreading around anyway.

"How's your mom?" asked Riley. The next question was something that Maya didn't really feel comfortable talking about (**what is your family like?**). Especially with Riley who practically saw the main component to her family every other weekend.

"You know. She's busy with work and stuff. How are your parents?" She quickly switched the subject, her mom wasn't something that she talked about often nor did she want to.

"Still happily in love. It's almost sickening. I caught them making out in the kitchen and almost threw up." The two laughed while jotting down on their papers what the other one answered.

"You're parents are sweet. I think it's funny how they still act like teenagers."

Riley rolled her eyes, "You only think it's funny and sweet because you haven't witnessed it. I'm sure you don't think Shawn is all that charming and sweet with your mom." Maya pretended to gag.

"Absolutely not. That's just painful to watch."

The brunette chuckled, "Exactly!"

Talking and joking with Riley again was strange. She thought that she would be angry if the two ever had a conversation again. She'd scream and yell about how selfish and conceded her ex friend was. She'd shout about how shallow and influenced she had become. It seemed that her mouth didn't want to argue. It wanted to talk to Riley and laugh with her like no time has passed at all.

And it seemed that that day, the subject about the messy ending to their friendship wouldn't be brought up. It'd wait for another day when the two would be comfortable talking about it. Maya was uncomfortable just thinking about it.

She disposed of the thought as they moved onto the next question, **what are your hobbies?**

[*]

"So, you're saying that you and Riley Matthews actually talked? Did you bring up freshman ye-"

"No. And I kind of didn't want to. It was nice just talking to her again."

Farkle groaned as he made a left turn, "Don't tell me that you're going to be sucked back into that. I hope you still remember what happened."

"You know that you were just as _sucked in_ as I was. If not even more, you were practically in love with her." Maya argued. She was beginning to regret telling Farkle any of it.

"And you were practically her sister but look how that turned out." The moment Maya spotted her home, she'd never been more grateful. The car halted and she jumped out, not even bothering to say goodbye. "Maya. Maya, wait!" He called but she didn't listen. She just kept going until she was inside and away from Farkle's harsh words.

When Maya walked inside her apartment, Josh and Shawn were still whispering but they moved to the couch. To her dismay, Josh lifted his head with a chipper grin on his face to wave at her. She doesn't even want to think about the embarrassing way she must've waved back, instead she focused her attention on getting into her room so she could do her algebra homework.

Her phone was buzzing with what she guessed were texts from Farkle. She was about to text him that she wasn't as upset as she seemed, she just didn't need to be reminded of freshman year. He was reminding her of how humiliated she felt which was something she completely forgot about while talking to Riley.

After she finished with her last math problem, she decided to take a look at the long list of texts from her eccentric friend.

_you know i really am sorry. i didn't mean to make you mad, _was the last thing he text her.

**i know. just know that when you get a bunch of messages from Isadora, you're good ol' friend was the one who gave her your number.**

_-_- the sacrifices i have to make for this friendship..._

Maya laughed, **love you too**


	3. are you playing hooky?

**a|n - let's pretend that six flags is actually open in march ;)**

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><p>The next day, the sun once again didn't wake her.<p>

It was large hands and they were shaking her small body. Her eyes popped open to glare at the genius who decided it would be funny to wake her up and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw it was Josh.

As if she slept naked, she pulled the blankets over her chest, absolutely horrified, "Don't you know the meaning of privacy?!"

He chuckled, not looking embarassed at all about what he did. Maya thought about how bad her breath must smell and why he hasn't run for the hills because of the golden bird's nest that was her hair. "Shawn wanted me to wake you up because he needed to tell you something."

"And this couldn't have waited until later? The sun is rising now!"

Josh just shrugged, "You should just go and find out." He made his way to the door but not before winking at her and saying, "Nice hair." He was completely gone by the time that Maya was able to find something to throw at him.

Grunting, she slid off her bed and headed to the kitchen where Shawn waited with nothing. No coffee, no sandwich. She lifted her brow, questioning if this was some sort of test.

"Was the thing you needed to tell me about breakfast or lack thereof?"

Shawn gave a boyish grin and shook his head, "I have decided that you are missing school today." Then he took a sip out of his own paper cup of coffee and continued to look at her.

"No." She replied simply.

Flabbergasted, he almost choked on his coffee, "What do you mean no? I thought you would be happy about it. You hate school."

Yeah, she thought, but that was before she started talking to Riley again. But she wasn't going to tell Shawn that, "I never said that." Instead of continuing with their little banter, Shawn put his cup down and got up.

"You know I wasn't really giving you an option, kiddo."

Maya rolled his eyes at him. He was completely abusing his power as an adult (and her stepdad) to make her do whatever he said, "If you want me to stay home to watch and Air Buds with you, then you're being ridiculous. Besides, Josh isn't in school so he'll be more than happy to-"

"I'm not making you stay home to watch Air Buds. Josh has been here for only a day and I think he needs to have some fun. Besides, I remember you two being close when you were younger."

Her cheeks were practically on fire. Close? If stalking the other meant close then they were thick as thieves. "We were never close." She hissed. It was around that time that Josh aka the bane of her existence strolled into the kitchen.

"I'll try not to take that personally, Hart." The Cheshire cat grin on his face was making her uneasy as well. Hell, everything about him made her uneasy.

She opened her mouth to sass him but thought it would just be a waste of time, "I'm going to school!"

"C'mon, kiddo. Get dressed. Time is of the essence."

Realizing that she was getting absolutely nowhere in the conversation, Maya decided to get dressed.

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><p>It turns out Shawn's defintion of fun for Josh is going to Six Flags. It seemed odd at the time because she didn't remember either of them liking roller coasters, yet there they were, in the line to get on <em>El<em> _Torro_.

Her phone was vibrating like crazy with texts from Farkle. She'd told him to not pick her up and a whole bunch of questions had stemmed from there.

**why? aren't you coming to school?**

**are you playing hooky? i didn't know you had it in you**

**this kind of reminds me of middle school and it's not just because your skipping school if you know what i mean ;)**

Maya stopped looking at her texts after that because she felt like punching him. Besides, if Josh were to see anything that brought up her horrible crush on him...well the thought itself made her want to die of embarrassment. She already had been dodging talking to him the whole time. Shawn found it more than easy to carry on a conversation and he hadn't shut up until right they began to become closer to the actual roller coaster seats. Maya was thankful that she got to so lucky as to not have to talk to him.

But Shawn wasn't talking and her luck ran out.

"So, you're a sophomore now?" Josh asked looking her up and down. She glared at him. The cheeky grin on his face let her know that he was joking but she still was upset over his poking fun at her height.

"You're hilarious. I'm a senior, actually."

He chuckled, "You used to think I was funny." Why does she have the feeling that him bringing up the past wasn't going to work in her favor?

"I used to think you were a lot of things." She crossed her arms and instantly regretted the words that came out of her mouth. Though Josh seemed to enjoy it completely, she was surprised his cheeks haven't become sore from smiling so much.

"Like what?" He tilted his head to the side and she turned her head, annoyed by how easy it was for him to look good.

"Like nothing. I thought you were repulsive." Her blue eyes tried focusing on anything but the boy in front of her and they ended up on Shawn who seemed really fidgety and it made Maya laugh. "Is someone a little scared to get on the ride?"

Shawn scowled while balling his hands into fists to stop them from shaking, "Of course not! I'm a grown man, do you actually think I'm afraid of roller coasters?" The three were only ten people away from being put into seperate aisles to get on the ride and Shawn's eyes kept drifting towards the exit.

"No," Maya considered, "I've never actually been to an amusement park with you."

"Well, then I'll have you know that I'm not scared. At all."

Josh took notice of how scared he was too, "Really? I think what I'm excited for is the huge drop right at the beginning. But they almost tease you by bringing you around so you could see what's next."

"Huge?" He choked out and Maya had to bite her lip to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Massive, I'm surprised you even want to go. I know you have a thing with heights." She added in. His face was visibly getting paler and normally she would be worried but he forced her out of school on the one day that she actually wanted to go, so watching Shawn squirm was perfectly okay with her.

"I'll be fine." He squeaked.

"So, you won't mind if I ask the nice lady if we could go in the front?" asked Josh, mischief glinting in his dark eyes. That seemed to do it because Shawn pushed past a young couple and some pouty little kid to get to the exit. No one stopped him but the moment he was out, Maya and Josh looked at each other and burst out laughing. They were moved to their designated aisles by an annoyed middle aged woman and that was when the two realized it was just them now.

"I guess we can go to the front now."

She shook her head furiously, "No way. Absolutely not."

"C'mon! Don't tell me you're scared too."

Of course she was! But on a scale of 1 to Shawn, she was about a 5 when it came to roller coasters. They weren't so bad after you got on them and they weren't that bad when you were in the back. People in the back could hear what's coming and know what to expect and Maya was fine with that. But the way that he phrased it, he made it sound like he was challenging her.

And Maya Hart never backed out of a challenge.

"Fine. Next coaster, I'll get in the front."

Why, oh why did Maya Hart never back out of a challenge?

[*]

El Torro was probably the worst coaster ever. She kept her eyes closed and head down the whole time while Josh was screaming his head off in excitement. The boy really wasn't afraid of anything, when the two got to look at the picture they took, Maya's blonde hair was blocking her face while Josh looked like Christmas had come early for him.

"If you buy that, I swear…" Maya grumbled but Shawn bought it anyway. The three made their way to the next ride, the ride that Josh had chosen: Kingda Ka. One look at the tall green coaster made her shudder. And one look at the tall Matthews boy told her that he planned the whole thing.

Shawn smiled and waved at the pair while they walked to get in line. The whole way in, Maya thought of ways she could get out of their deal with her dignity still intact. But the smug look on Josh's face told her otherwise, if she turned back now, he'd never let her live it down. So, she thought of something from the top of her head and tried to distract herself, "So, why are you here?" She asked bluntly.

The expression on his face disappeared almost instantly, "What do you mean?"

She felt a twinge of guilt at the look on his face. Maybe it was something personal and he didn't want to talk about it, she should probably drop it, "I mean, why do you have packed suitcases in my apartment. It's not like you're paying rent." Her mouth really needed to cooperate with her brain. Why was she still talking about it?

"Um, no reason. I just wanted to come see you-guys, I wanted to see you guys. College isn't everything they make it out to be."

"No outrageous parties? Girls throwing themselves at you?"

His lips quirked upwards into a small smile as his eyes rested on the small girl beside him, "Well, that wasn't so bad."

Maya rolled her eyes, "Pig."

He laughed, "Well, what about you? Break any hearts, yet?"

Surely, he was joking. There was no boy in her school that was interesting enough. And evidently, the boys at her school felt the same way about her. All of them were the same. Shallow, idiotic and hormonal. Any girl with boobs could probably get any guy at John Quincy Adams High.

_Cough_ Missy Bradford _Cough._

"Yeah sure. And I'm also running for office."

"I'm being serious!" Josh looked compleletly confused too. They continued to make their way to the coaster and Maya was shocked to see that they were close. She was surprised that she was so eager to get on but at the moment, anything would be better than discussing her love life with Joshua Matthews.

"So am I. You can't be serious. I don't look like a Victoria Secret Angel aka what all the boys in my school set their standards to."

His eyebrows furrowed and he seemed to be deep in thought, Maya looked longingly at the lime green seats that would lead her away from this conversation. "I don't get it. They want you to look like some 30 year old model that has a bunch of makeup on? You don't need that. You're so much better than that."

Maya scoffed, "Yeah okay."

He looked at her like she just asked him to say the alphabet, "You are! For starters, you're fun, you're loyal-"

"And I don't go in the garbage?"

He glared at her but continued, "You're very outspoken, clever, brave," Maya opened her mouth to contradict him again but his next words left her speechless, "And let's not forget how incredibly beautiful you are."

A real smile graced his face when he saw her expression, the lady that made sure everyone was safe inside the ride guided them in and Maya was taking a seat in the front before she could even realize what happened. The same woman with her tight ponytail was pressing down on everyone's handles before making sure they were secure. Everything was still and just when Maya felt like maybe her mouth could make coherent words, they were launched from their spot.

Her heart was racing even more than before and she desperately searched for something to keep her from falling out. That thing just so happened to be Josh's arm which was firm, to Maya's delight.

Her eyes were shut tight the entire time which she found didn't work on this particular ride because she could feel the drop and it didn't feel pleasant. But Josh felt pleasant and she was embarassingly still holding onto him even when the ride had stopped.

"Maya," Josh chuckled softly, "The ride is done. We have to get off."

She peaked through one eye and flushed at the amused looks on everyone's faces, "Oh my gosh!" She said, throwing her hands over her scarlet face. Josh grabbed one of her hands and dragged her out of the seats until she could feel the sun hitting her skin.

"I'm guessing Maya enjoyed herself." said Shawn. She was still shaking and Josh was still holding her hand (which she didn't mind). She mustered enough strength to send her stepdad the stank eye but it didn't seem to do anything.

It actually just made him laugh. Another thing was still on her mind, why hadn't Josh let go of her hand? "I think I have nail marks in my arm now." said Josh and Maya felt her cheeks get hot.

Shawn laughed again, "I think I'll get the pictures for this one too." And he strolled off to pick up the pictures, leaving her with a beaming Joshua. He lowered his head to look at her as she still had a firm grip on his hand.

"You know you were practically in my lap and the only thing that was keeping you in your seat was the bar in front of us."

She groaned before letting her head drop, "I know, I-"

His other hand was suddenly under her chin and lifting her face to look at him, "We should get on roller coasters more often." He was going to give her a heart attack.

Joshua Matthews was going to be the end of her.

* * *

><p>"Incredibly beautiful."<p>

He was talking about her, Maya Hart. He thought her, Maya Hart was beautiful. And it was her, Maya Hart that was smiling like an idiot when she was laying in bed. She shouldn't be smiling though. It was just a compliment and sure she only received them from Shawn and her mother but it was nice to hear it from someone who wasn't a family member.

Also, it was nice to hear from someone who was completely out of her league.

Who was she kidding it was nice to hear from Josh. Because Josh was incredibly beautiful.

Now, all she had to do was stop smiling like a creeper and go to sleep. Don't think about Josh. Don't think about how he was so close to you the whole day and most definitely do _not_ think of his sweet smelling cologne...

The sound of a door clicking shut pulled her from her daydreams. Was someone awake? She ignored the part of her brain that hoped it was Josh. Stealthily, she snuck her way over to the door and peaked through to see a tall figure moving towards the door.

Was it an intruder? Nah, that'd be stupid they were making noise and they didn't seem like they were carrying anything. The moonlight shined through the window and onto the face of Joshua Matthews who opened the door and looked around the room before closing it behind him.

Where was he going?


	4. liar! liar! liar!

**a|n - so, this was posted later than usual bc the website was acting really annoying [get your shit together ff] but i hope you like it nonetheless x**

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><p>Maya woke up on her own the next day.<p>

Her mind had kept her up all night thinking of reasons why Josh would sneak out in the middle of the night. Surely it wasn't to do anything illegal. This was Josh after all and sure he liked to be mischievous at times but most of the times he had a conscience.

Shawn waited in the kitchen for her with an unusually happy grin. He sipped his coffee liked he'd sprinkled it with rainbows and sunshine, enjoying every bit of it. But he was alone and some part of her worried about what Josh could be doing.

"Good morning, kiddo." He shoved the folded brown paper bag to her and she took it while her eyes still wandered around the room to see if he left any evidence.

"'Morning. Where's Josh?" Maya tried saying casually. Shawn didn't think there was anything weird about how she asked, he might've just thought it was weird that she cared.

"He's sleeping. Said Six Flags really tired him out." **Liar! Liar! Liar!** Maya screamed mentally. What if he really did do something illegal? Was there a stash of money under his mattress from the local liquor store?

"Oh, okay." She replied awkwardly before taking a bite of her sandwich. Maybe Josh didn't do anything stupid. Any nineteen year old could just want to sneak out in the night to...explore. That's it, he probably just wanted to explore, Maya kept repeating in her head.

* * *

><p>"So, how was Six Flags?" Farkle said, wiggling his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes before leaning over and flicking his forehead.<p>

"Stop being gross. Nothing happened. We went on rides and that's it," He gave her a look and she grinned, "And it would've been fun if I had my best friend with me."

He sat back in his chair, clearly content with that answer, "That's it, huh? It was so boring? Nothing happened with your husband?"

Her stomach flipped as she thought of his soft voice by her ear...damn him! Then she thought of how he might possibly might be a felon and shook her head. She's just being stupid now.

"Of course not. He's too old for me, remember?"

Farkle chuckled, "That's never stopped you before."

She shook her head and bit back a smile at how persistent she was when it came to Josh. And then she remembered something before she flicked Farkle's forehead again.

"He's not my husband!"

* * *

><p>Sitting down next to Riley, she could almost feel the chill from the cold shoulder she was getting. It's not like they usually greeted each other when they walked into class so that wasn't the reason Riley was upset.<p>

Maya quickly glanced at Missy who was still shamelessly flirting with Lucas and thought that she couldn't be mad at that because Missy did that everyday. She even smelt herself and found there was nothing repulsive about her smell. So, what was she so mad a-

"How was your day yesterday?" Riley inquired suddenly. Years of being friends with the Matthews girl set an automatic alert to her brain as to why she was upset.

The blonde sighed, "Look, I'm sorry. Shawn just had one of those moments where he wanted to spend time with me but it also conflicted with school and-you know Shawn and his priorities." She dug through her bag to look for her sheet of paper with Riley's answers while Riley remained indifferent.

"I don't remember Air Bud being on in the morning."

"Well, we didn't watch Air Bud. We did other stuff and I didn't think you'd care if I was gone for a day."

Riley turned on her stool to look at her like she was completely appalled, "I don't! You can do whatever you want. It's not like I was worried you were gone because of me." She said the last part so low that Maya almost thought she misheard her. Riley Matthews was worried about what she did? Since when?

"Why would I be gone because of you?"

"I don't know, we were finally starting to talk like we were...never mind." She hastily went back to doodling on the margin of her paper and twisting the hem of her dress.

"Riley!" Maya called and she stopped her nervous actions, "I wasn't gone because of you, okay? I was...just busy." For a brief moment, she wanted to tell Riley about Josh staying with them. She wanted to tell her about how nervous she had been seeing him again and how he thought she was beautiful. But then Riley turned and her eyes focused on something to Maya's right.

Two people to be specific and it was Missy and Lucas. And if Maya hadn't known her for so long, she would've guessed that she longed to be with them. But she did know her (at least her tells) and it seemed that she didn't want to be with them, she wanted to be with...

She smirked, "Something interesting over there, Riles?" Riley turned and looked like a deer in headlights as her cheeks flushed pink and she hastily began to doodle on her paper again.

"N-No. No, definitely not. Why would you say that?"

"Because you're kind of staring at Luca-"

"Shhh!" She hushed her and Maya almost laughed how childish she was being.

"What's the big deal, isn't he your friend?"

Riley rolled her eyes, "Yes, he's my _friend_," She practically spat the word, "My friend who's hooking up with Missy and doesn't even find me remotely attractive. My friend who only thinks of me as one of Missy's minions. My friend who will never..." She blinked her eyes and seemed to realize where she was and who she was talking to.

She felt guilty. And angry at Missy for being a bad friend, "Riley, why don't you just tell her tha_—_"

"That what?" Riley hissed, her voice was low so no one could hear but it only made Maya worry, "Do you know Missy Bradford? She would never give up something she 'won'. Besides, I already said he doesn't like me anyway."

"That's a load of crap and you know it. She's probably lying an_—_"

"Maya, stop." Riley warned.

But she couldn't. She already thought Missy Bradford was a stone cold bitch but now she knew that she was heartless too. It's like she didn't even care if her friend was happy. "No. How could you want to be with friends with such a manipulative asshol_—_"

"I said stop!" The buzzing of voices in the background stopped as Riley's voice echoed. All eyes were on them but all Maya could focus on was the brown eyes in front of her that looked absolutely livid. The bell rang and the classroom came to life again but she was still in shock. People filed out, Riley had been the first one out of her seat and Maya didn't blame her.

She began to put away the papers she didn't even fill out when her eyes looked at the next question they were meant to be answering, **if you could go back and change one decision you made, what would you change?**

Oh the irony.

* * *

><p>Thankfully, Farkle's day was eventful too. He was so caught up in his story about Isadora that he failed to ask her what breaking news occurred in eighth period with the royals.<p>

"She hired kids from the choir to come sing to me in the bathroom. And this wasn't as awkward as you may think because I wasn't peeing. I was in the stall! I was listening to acapella barber shop quartet music. Do you know how weird that is? And then they slipped a card under the stall with her voice singing the finale. She was asking me to ask her to prom."

"Well, I'd definitely vote the two of you prom king and queen."

"Only if you want your funeral before graduation."

Maya lightly punched his arm, "I think you're missing out. Because there are times when I talk to her and she doesn't bring you up," He gave her a look, "The whole time."

[*]

Sleep was something she craved desperately.

Too much has happened and she needed to give her mind a break. The Matthews family was beginning to give her a migraine. She sighed and then turned over, her eyelids felt heavy and she began to welcome sleep eagerly.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Her eyes open as she curiously looked towards the source of the noise.

Her window.

Please don't be a weird homeless guy. Please don't be a weird homeless guy.

Another knock, "Maya. Maya, open up. It's me."

And that lovely voice she knew very well. She practically launched herself at the window when she realized he was there. Lifting up the window, she was ready to yell at him. Even when he sent her his breathless smile that made her heart race. "What the hell are you doing on the fire escape?"

"You almost sound like you're not happy to see me." He answered, stepping into her room and looking around like he was impressed.

"Good," She said, "Because I'm not."

Josh approached her and tucked a piece of fallen hair behind her ear, "You're a bad liar, gorgeous." The rough surface of his thumb softly slid across her cheek before he pulled his hand back into his jean pockets. It was beginning to become pathetic at how easily this boy could take her breath away.

"S-Stop distracting me! Where were you?"

He tilted his head and looked at her like she was the most amusing thing he's ever seen, "Why? Were you worried about me?"

"No!" She yelled and instantly realized her mistake covered her mouth. It didn't seem like Shawn or her mother heard so then she continued, "I just_—_"

"Because you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. Okay?"

"Okay but_—_" Maya was cut off when he began to step away from her. She really needed to get her interrogation story prepared before he was actually in the room. Because the dopey smiles and his dreamy dark eyes were going to kill her.

"Good night, Maya."

Just because she was stubborn, she opened her mouth to argue about him being vague. How did she know that he wasn't lying to her so she wouldn't tell Shawn? Instead of a continuation of an argument, she managed to squeak, "Good night, Josh."


	5. i don't want to bore you, gorgeous

It shouldn't have been a surprise when Maya went to the kitchen in the morning and only found Shawn.

The poor boy was probably still tired from avoiding her questions all night. She angrily bit into her sandwich just thinking about how much he aggravated her. Who did he think he was? He could just waltz into her room and then completely avoid interrogation. She could snitch now that she thought about it but it the thought was dismissed because Maya didn't like that title for herself.

She shouldn't be thinking this much on a Friday, she should be thinking about what her plans are for the weekend. Oh, who was she kidding? Her and Farkle's definition of plans was going over the other's house and napping. Not that she minded that much but still, the two of them were as lame as it came.

Shawn was now giving her odd looks and she realized she must look kind of ridiculous being deep in thought with pieces of her sandwich in her mouth. It was safe to say that she should probably refrain from thinking so much in the morning.

* * *

><p>"He didn't throw rocks at your window?" Farkle asked once more. It seemed that every time she explained the things that happen when he's not there, he seems to find the exact question that'll irritate her the most and then asks it. She told him about how Josh mysteriously knocked on her window and avoided all her questions, she failed to mention him calling her gorgeous because she could already feel her stomach filling with butterflies at the mere thought of it.<p>

Maya rolled her eyes, "No, I don't think that was his intention anyway. He keeps avoiding the question and I hate it. I hate not knowing things."

"I know," Farkle groaned, "I couldn't even throw you a surprise birthday party because you demanded to know why I kept ditching you."

"I had the right to know. You left me with Isadora the whole month! I love you and all but hearing Isadora talk about you 24/7 was probably the worst time of my life. I honestly don't know why she's so obsessed."

"Hey!" He objected as he followed their usual path of turns and traffic lights to get to school.

"I meant, why isn't she obsessed enough. The shrine she has of you in her room is completely well deserved." Maya said slyly and watched as Farkle's eyes practically bulged out of his head,

"What?!"

[*]

Ms. Kelly moved the English class to the library while men came in to inspect their windows. Apparently some teacher complained about a draft though it wasn't cold outside at all. Ms. Kelly didn't mind it though, she said that we should all go to the library because some of us don't know what actual books look like.

Maya was almost offended.

Though having to move to the library gave Maya a reason not to say anything on the way upstairs. Riley's little outburst yesterday hadn't left her mind and the annoyance that she felt sadly wouldn't go away either. Why did she freak out so much? It's not like anyone would care at this point, all-better yet most of the seniors were mature now. Petty gossip wasnt' so popular anymore.

Because she didn't know why Riley was so mad, she decided to play the ignoring game as well. It worked up until Riley leaned over the table looking apologetic. She opened her mouth to speak but what came out wasn't her voice.

It was the principal's.

"Attention everyone. This is a code red. This is a drill. I repeat..."

Code reds weren't really as intense as they seemed. Everyone would have to hide under or behind something and try to stay completely quiet.

Tried being the key word.

Maya could remember a couple being caught making out behind the teacher's desk. She was just surrounded by so many mature people...

So, in the fashion of usual code reds, everyone started whispering. For the first time, Maya actually sat silently. Riley would look like she was about to say something and then shut her mouth until finally,

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She said in a normal voice which was the code red equivalent to screaming. Someone under a desk neared them shushed them but continued their own conversation.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that and I know I overreacted but there's just a lot you don't know." Her voice faded sadly and Maya would've tried her best to try to come up with something to cheer her up, a body smashed into her own.

Her blonde head turned and she was completely ready to give that person a piece of her mind until, "Ladies." A smooth voice said.

"Farkle." They acknowledged. Riley looked surprised and not disgusted like Maya had imagined. Instead, she looked a little happy.

"What are you doing outside of your classroom? Aren't the doors closed?" Riley inquired, Farkle waved her off casually as if he snuck out all the time.

"Don't worry about it, doll. I heard from one of the janitors this morning about the code red during eighth period and I just didn't feel like spending my time surrounded by idiot jocks."

Then someone else slid under the table and it made Riley turn the color of a tomato.

"Lucas." The two friends stated.

"Farkle. Maya." He nodded to them before turning his attention to the blushing girl to his right, "Riley."

Her head shot up from its previous position of looking down and she grinned, "Lucas there hi!" She realized her mistake immediately and covered her face with her hands.

Maya was almost in shock when she caught Lucas' look of admiration when he looked at Riley. An idea immediately came to mind, "I think Farkle and I should go hide under a different table."

"What?" Riley exclaimed suddenly and latched onto Maya's arm, "No. You can't leave."

Carefully, she pulled the girl's hand away while smirking mischievously, "But I can and I'm going to. See you two later."

Farkle quickly followed behind her as she crawled under two desks before settling on a safe distance from her previous spot.

He glanced from Maya's nonchalant figure the awkward couple a few desks away, "What was that?"

"What was what?"

He raised his eyebrows before flipping his imaginary hair over his shoulder, "I'm Maya and I'm going to leave my ex best friend with the most popular guy in school." Farkle even added a giggle (something she rarely does) in his little bit too.

"Okay, one: I don't talk like that and second: I'm just doing her a favor. She'll thank me later I guarantee."

"You think you're helping her?"

"I know I'm helping her. I'm a helpful person, for example," She tried looking around until she found what she was looking for, "Isadora!"

Maya was shushed about a dozen times before the girl she called actually made it to their desk. Farkle's never had a more murderous look on his face.

[*]

Friday night. What was she supposed to do? Sleeping would be dumb, right? Yet, here she was. Laying in her bed thinking about how lame of a weekend she was having. She should be having the time of her life. Shawn and her mother were out to dinner, leaving the house completely empty.

Farkle asked if she wanted to go over and play cards with him and his dad and it was only at this moment did she find the offer appealing.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. _

That couldn't be...

She turned in her bed to see a smiling Joshua Matthews on her fire escape. She should've ignored him, she should've chosen to do something else.

"Maya. Are you awake?" He knocked again before she finally got up and opened the window.

"Are you kidding me? Did you forget your keys or something?"

"Well no."

She sighed as he climbed through the window, "You could've used the door. Shawn isn't here, you know?"

"Where's the fun in that?" And he shot her a lopsided grin.

"Fine, whatever. Are you going to tell me where you were now?" Her hands were on her hips as she tried to keep her thoughts together. Especially at that moment when he draped himself across her bed and she could imagine the smell of his cologne staying behind.

"Aw c'mon. I don't want to bore you, gorgeous."

"Bore me? You're sneaking out to do boring stuff?" She said slowly. He was horrible at making excuses.

Josh nodded, "Yep."

"Like what? Shopping for milk? Feeding the pigeons?"

He chuckled, "You know, your persistence is kind of attractive, gorgeous."

"Would you quit calling me that?" Maya yelled.

"Why? It suits you."

Her cheek temperature was going up quicker than she ever thought it could, "Just quit it."

"You're acting like you've never heard anyone say that to you." He said incredulously.

"Because I haven't!" The conversation was starting to get more and more embarrassing. It was supposed to be an interrogation about where Josh was not the minimal attention she receives from boys.

Josh rose from her bed and walked towards her with the most serious face she's ever seen him wear, "Then I guess I'll have to call you gorgeous until you're used to it."

It was amazing how easily he could make he blush, almost as easy as it was for him to change the subject. Maya refused to let him leave without telling her where he'd been, "Ugh! Stop complimenting me!"

He tilted his head at her while looking both confused and amused, "That's one I haven't heard before."

"You're just so unbelievable. First, you completely ignore my question about where you were and then you keep flirt–I mean flattering me."

"You really want to know where I was?" Josh sauntered over to her, closing the distance between them. She kept trying to make sure that she didn't mess up again this time. He was finally going to tell her.

"Yes."

"You sure?" Their faces were only a few centimeters away and Maya felt like she was losing focus. It got worse when he intertwined their fingers.

"Yes." She breathed as he dipped his head. He was going to actually...? Then she saw him turn his head and pecked her cheek.

It shouldn't have effected her but nothing made sense when it came to her and Josh. The slight upturning of his lips was probably the cherry on top of the mass explosion of butterflies in her stomach because...damn, he was cute.

"Why did you do that?" She internally cringed at how shaky her voice came out.

"Because I don't like seeing you worry. Especially about a guy like me."

"What do you mean?" She asked suddenly curious. Josh gave her a look of something she couldn't quite put her finger on but her thoughts floated away as he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

"Well, there's a lot you don't know. Good night, gorgeous." Said Josh as he dropped her hand and made his way to the door.

"Good night."

Maya was still left thinking after Josh left, what was he talking about?

* * *

><p><strong>a|n - happy valentine's day everyone ! x<strong>


	6. so do i

Weekends were the best.

Sleeping in was probably one of things Maya enjoyed most though. And after the week she had, she needed some extra sleep and comfort.

She woke up around noon perfectly content. She could watch some Netflix and stuff her face. She was only weirdly happy because it was the weekend. It had nothing to do with a certain boy that seemed to enjoy climbing through her window.

Nope, definitely not.

"I was about to check you. It's not winter anymore, you don't need to hibernate." Said Shawn after Maya walked into the kitchen. Shawn had a strange smile on his face like he'd just won the lottery.

And he was putting food on a wooden tray, he even put orange juice and he hates orange juice. "Why are you making that?" Maya said as she continued to eye the tray. Her stomach grumbled which would explain her sudden interest in his breakfast.

Then strolled in Joshua with his sexy bedhead and crooked grin, "For the naked woman in his bed."

Shawn beamed at the mention of it and didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. Maya almost gagged.

"Next time just...ignore me." Her eyes were shut tight, wishing away the image of Shawn and her mother having sex.

The two men laughed as the look of disgust remained on her face. Maya grabbed an apple before heading into the living room and plopping on the old black leather couch. Josh walked in moments later, Maya was surprised the two of them didn't share secrets like the usually did when she wasn't in the room.

Moments later, Josh and Shawn sat down on either side of her on the couch.

"What are we watching?" Asked Shawn. She rolled her eyes, she just wanted to watch some stuff on Netflix.

"_We_ weren't watching anything. _I_ was watching Once Upon A Time." Maya answered sassily when she saw Shawn eyeing the remote.

"Well, maybe you should be considerate of the people in the living room." He suggested.

Maya pretended to consider it then shook her head, "Not gonna happen." She wished someone would've told her what was in store for her once she continued watching

They spent their day watching all of season 2 which included unnecessary comments from Shawn and Josh. Especially when Captain Hook (the sexiest man ever) was on screen.

Each had found a different way to be annoying. Shawn would keep questioning Captain Hook's fashion choices,

"Is he wearing eyeliner?" Shawn asked but was quickly hushed by a lovesick Maya. The couch was the only thing supporting her as she leaned closer to watch.

"He is showing an inappropriate amount of chest hair. Is that why you watch this show?" He glared at her before focusing his eyes on the screen.

As for Joshua, he remained completely enamored by Captain Hook and was giving him compliments,

"Do you think his eyes are just naturally that blue?" He whispered to her. With all the attention they were focusing on him, it made it more difficult to find him attractive.

"Do you think I would look good with a beard?" Josh rubbed his chin, imagining what it would feel like.

But then that wasn't even the worst part was when Josh pointed out how Captain Hook bluntly would flirt with Emma, "Why does he keep trying to be with that blonde chick?"

"Because he has a thing for blondes." Maya replied sarcastically, wishing everyone would shut up and let her watch her show in peace. She thought she heard his familiar husky laughter before he murmured, "So do I." And he was looking at the screen, popping fruit snacks into his mouth with a side smirk playing on his lips.

Asshole.

Though the night took a different turn when Josh got up to go to the bathroom. Shawn took the remote from her lap and raised the volume before turning to face her, "Kiddo, you didn't happen to mention Josh being here to anyone, right?"

"Just Farkle."

"Good," He breathed, "I really need you to keep that information to yourself."

"Why? Is he wanted by the FBI?" She joked but Shawn didn't even crack a smile. Then Josh staying here wasn't just some extended sleepover thing. Something serious had to have happened if he needed to stay with them in secret.

Shawn shook his head, "No. I just need you to keep quiet. Don't tell anyone that would want to know, like Riley."

"When was the last time Riley came around here? I already told you that her and I don't talk anymore." Yes, she was lying but he hadn't been honest with her before so Maya didn't see the point in suddenly being honest with him now.

"Just in case. Don't tell anyone. I mean it, Maya."

"Okay, okay. Jeez, I guess I'll have to cancel my conference with TMZ then?" A pillow to the face followed soon after her snarky remark.

* * *

><p>After Farkle failed to answer any of Maya's texts she left her room (where she had resided for the last hour so she could tell Farkle about what Josh was doing) and returned to the living room to find Shawn gone and Joshua playing Shawn's Wii and swearing under his breath.<p>

There was a crash that came from the screen and he threw his hands in the air in frustration, "That guy totally cheated!" Amused, she stepped in more to see what had captured his complete attention.

Josh was upset over Mario Kart.

"Are you serious?" She put her bowl of grapes down along with her phone and sat down next to him as she watched race again. Josh would furrow his eyebrows in the cutest way she's ever seen while his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth; he looked so much younger than he really was. It was ironic because he seemed to love the fact that he was and looked older than everyone else.

"Completely serious. I was just about to cross the finish line on my last lap and then suddenly a blue shell comes and hits me! I finished in fifth place! You'd be frustrated too."

"No. Because I'm actually good at this game."

His hands flew in the air again before he turned to her, "Oh? Then play me." And the way that he said it, Maya really should've thought about something being up. But alas, she was Maya Hart and Maya Hart never backed out of a challenge.

She grabbed the spare Wii remote that was on the coffee table by Josh's feet and was ready for him to put her in the game. She decided to go with Baby Mario because he was adorable and the only character she liked to play as.

Josh chose Bowser and they raced at Coconut Mall with Maya coming out in first place and Josh in eighth. The two raced again but in Bowser's Castle and ended up with the same result.

"Was that enough for you? Or do you want to go again?" She was practically on cloud nine. Winning was probably the best feeling, Maya thought to herself. She was surprised that she didn't feel bad for Josh who was pouting and looked like a little kid who was just put on time out.

"I'll admit it. You're extremely good at this game, gorgeous. But we should make things more interesting, right?"

"Sure."

His brown eyes drifted to the ceiling as he pretended to think, "If I win, you have to tell me a secret."

"All right and _when_ I win, I want you to tell me what you've been doing out so late."

Immediately his hand shot out for her to shake and she shook it. Blame the euphoria of victory which blinded her good judgement because Josh suddenly passed her the moment they started the race. It was unbelievable how quickly he got the front and how far away he was from the rest of the racers.

One look at his face told her that he planned all of it. An impish grin was plastered on his face as he crossed the finish line on his last lap. Though she did finish second place.

But she got played.

"You were never bad at this game were you?" said Maya in disbelief. He winked at her.

"That depends on how you define bad. Because to me, I was having an off day."

Maya reached out for a pillow and threw it at his face, "How is this even fair? You tricked me!"

Josh's hands shot out to protect his face before the pillow could hit him as he laughed, "Hey, I didn't tell you to get cocky. I actually didn't expect you to but the fact that you were made winning so much more fun."

"I hate you." She said coldly.

"Wow, I almost believed you. Now, c'mon. Fess up."

Before her thoughts could come together to tell Josh something minor, her mouth moved on it's on accord, "I'm talking to Riley again."

"You are? That's good, you two were so close," He opened his mouth like he was ready to say something but then shook his head like if he thought better of it.

"What is it?"

Hesitantly, his eyes met her own, "I just never knew what happened between you two for you guys to stop talking to each other." Maya sighed and Josh instantly backtracked, "But you don't have to tell me! It's none of my business. My mouth just doesn't know when to shut up sometimes, like right now."

It was sort of funny seeing Josh get flustered because of her, usually it was the other way around.

"No, I'll tell you; that was part of the deal," She took a deep breath thinking about the story that she hated telling, "Riley and I entered our freshman year not knowing many people other than Lucas, Farkle and Isadora. During lunch, Missy invited the two of us to join her along with Lucas, Farkle and Isadora. She was weirdly nice to all of us, it was almost like she matured since middle school. Almost is the key word here. Later on, she would compliment Riley randomly and ask to hang out with us. Riley and I had no classes together while Missy and her had four, so they got really close. Riley had been doing stuff that wasn't really stuff _her_, she's blow off her parents or lie about where she was. And we would argue about it all the time. Then my birthday came around and I thought I could spend it with Riley, Farkle and even Lucas but Riley had other plans..."

_The blindfold really was a dead giveaway. But the muffled giggles and musky smell in the air was unexpected. Quickly, Riley tore off the blindfold and revealed that they were in a dimly lit party where everyone jumped out and screamed, "Surprise!"_

_Riley's smiling face appeared before her as the music began blasting again and people returned to what they're doing. The gesture was nice but Maya couldn't help but feel out of place. She didn't know anyone besides Riley and she felt like her time with her best friend was going to be cut short._

_"Happy birthday, Maya!" a voice said from behind her and she turned to see Missy with a plastic cup in her hands, grinning. Her uncomfortable feeling grew._

_"Thanks." Immediately after she thanked her, Missy grabbed Riley by the arm and whispered something that made her best friend gasp and look at Maya apologetically. _

_"I'll be right back, I swear."_

_"Yeah, sure." She smiled forcefully after they disappeared. To say it was a horrible birthday would be the understatement of the century. Maya had made her way upstairs to an empty bedroom where she'd hope to feel a little bit better but it didn't work. _

_Shawn was texting her, asking her how her birthday with Riley was going and she didn't have the heart to tell him how horrible it was. It was only three hours she had been alone but it felt like years. Finally, she text Farkle to come pick her up. On her way down the stairs, she ran into an intoxicated Riley._

_"Maya! It's the birthday girl, everyone." She screamed to the crowd of people who paid no mind to her. Her long arm draped over Maya's shoulder as the smell of liquor wafted into Maya's face._

_"Glad you still remember."_

_Riley squinted her eyes, looking confused, "What is that supposed to mean? I threw you a party!"_

_"You didn't throw me anything. You took me to a party, where you had people who were totally wasted scream surprise to someone they don't even know. Then you left me alone, wondering if you were even still at this stupid party."_

_"I can't believe how ungrateful you sound. I was trying to make you have fun, it's not my fault you're so antisocial."_

_Her blue eyes were practically bulging out of her head in disbelief, "_Me_? At least I don't have to turn into a completely different person just so people will like me. And all the people here have a lower IQ than Auggie."_

_"You're really unbelievable. Missy and I-"_

_"Missy! That explains everything! No wonder you thought this party was a good idea."_

_"What does that have to do with Missy?"_

_Maya could feel her nails digging into her palms because of how tightly her fists were balled up. She was grateful for the loud music because she really didn't want the whole party to listen to what they were saying, "You're head is so far up her ass that you don't even care about what I like anymore. All I wanted was a party with my friends and I don't see any of mine here."_

"I didn't talk to her and I told Farkle about how selfish she was and how she destroyed what was supposed to be a good day for me. Farkle was so pissed at what she said, he refused to talk to her. I didn't either but she came to me because she couldn't remember what happened and I didn't tell her but I told her that we needed space from each other. I was hoping that, that would wake her up but she just looked hurt and didn't talk to me since then. I knew that her and Missy aren't that great of friends anymore either so I just thought that maybe the Riley I knew was back." Only after she was finished did she realize that Josh had grabbed hold of her hand and was rubbing his thumb on the back of it.

"I'm so sorry that you had to talk about that."

"No, I needed to share it. The fight was dumb and she became someone I didn't recognize, so it was better we ended it then." She wasn't even convincing herself.

"And you're still talking to her now?"

"You think I shouldn't?" Her voice showed how vulnerable she became when it came to Riley and the look on Josh's face told her that he knew too.

"I think that your friendship is something people envy. Riley is impressionable and probably realized her mistake in losing you as a friend. If deep down you know that this will end badly, then don't do it. But I think Riley is worth a second chance."

"Me too."


	7. i guess i was really crazy about him

**a|n - literally your reviews make my day, so many of you want to know what Josh is doing and you won't know until much later **

**btw I hope some of you like reading the joshaya scenes bc I sure love writing them x**

* * *

><p>Waking up felt weird.<p>

There was an arm wrapped strongly around her waist and she could feel someone's breath blowing on her forehead. Her eyes opened when she took in the musky cologne scent, to her surprise (and horror) the person she was cuddling with was Josh.

This was bad. So, so bad.

Especially because everything in her body was telling her not to leave that spot on the...couch? Maya didn't really knew where they were and if they were on the couch, that meant that Shawn must've seen them. If he did, he probably took a picture so he could humiliate her later. Though her sapphire eyes didn't stray from Josh's peaceful face to search for her stepdad.

It was strange being so close to him and seeing how peaceful he looked. Pieces of ebony hair had fallen in the front of his face and she gently pushed them away. He looked so young when he was asleep, his skin was clear of any stress or acne and his lips were...

No! She shouldn't be looking at his lips. No matter how soft they look or how they would feel against her own...

She needed to leave. The guy was asleep and was still making her heart race and her mind think inappropriately. All of a sudden she felt the arm around her waist tighten as he brought her closer to his chest. He grumbled, "Gorgeous?"

Why did his morning voice have to sound attractive too? Maya's shut immediately, hoping that if he saw that she was asleep then he'll go back to sleep too. Her plan worked when Josh stopped trying to adjust them and his breath evened out again.

Carefully, she lifted his arm off her waist and rolled off the couch and onto the floor. Her phone was on the table and checked the time, it was eleven o'clock. Her and Josh must've stayed up really late.

Memories rushed into her mind while she went to her room to put on some sneakers, she couldn't be in the house when Josh woke up. Instead of acknowledging the awkward cuddling he'd probably say something charming about her absence like, "I missed you this morning, gorgeous."

And she was definitely sticking around to hear it and blush like some lovestruck school girl.

Grabbing her keys from her nightstand, she made her way to the living room, past Josh's sleeping figure and out the door. Some fresh air would surely do her some good.

* * *

><p>What type of best friend doesn't pick up their phone?<p>

Farkle Minkus, that's who. He still hadn't responded to the mass of texts she sent him last night about Josh and how she told him about her and Riley. She even text him about how Shawn told her to keep Josh's presence at their house a secret (for reasons still unknown to her).

Did Shawn know that Josh was sneaking out every night or was she supposed to keep that a secret too? Her mind would drift off to last night as the continued to walk the long blocks of Manhattan.

_"So, how about another game? I promise to go easy on you this time." It was like he knew exactly what to say to take her mind off of Riley because she immediately looked at him with lifting her eyebrow, challenging him. _

_"Is that so? You're too kind."_

_"Only for you. Want to race on Rainbow Road again?" Maya nodded and they were off racing again and talking trash about the other. Then for some reason (she blames it on the fact that it was midnight and she was tired) Maya moved her body so she was laying horizontally with her feet on the arm of the couch and her head on Josh's lap._

_Mid race, he suddenly froze as he slowly looked down to find Maya staring at the TV. She looked as comfortable as ever laying there and it took a few moments for Josh to get his mind away from the blonde in his lap and onto the game._

_Once he was focused again, he was in first place with Maya close in second. And (because she was tired and feeling ballsy all of a sudden) she decided to tickle his side. The most adorable and boyish laugh she's ever heard escaped his lips then while he twitched so he could avoid her wandering fingers._

_"Maya! No, you're gonna make me lose!" He kept moving his remote higher up due to the fact that she completely abandoned her own remote and was dedicated to sabotaging him._

_"Good. Next time, you won't cheat." Maya was up and chest to chest with him also making sure to block his view of the TV._

_At the end of their struggle, Josh ended up getting tenth place. His dark eyes were practically warning her that was what to come next wasn't going to benefit Maya whatsoever._

_His nimble fingers reached out and met her waist before running along her ribs, his muscled arms trapped her in his embrace, "Josh, stop." She said in between breaths._

_"Not until you apologize." Josh was grinning and chuckling at her outbursts of laughter. She shook her head as his evil fingers continued their journey over her cotton t-shirt. _

_"In your dreams, Matthews."_

_A creak from the master bedroom was what put an end to their fun. Josh placed his hand over Maya's mouth to stop her giggling as they waited to see if Shawn or her mother were awake. _

_Nothing happened so Josh turned his attention to the strangely giddy girl beneath him, "What's up with you, smiley?" Something wet slid across his palm before he pulled his hand away from her mouth in disgust. _

_"Real mature." _

_She stuck her tongue out at him and moved to get up but once her feet touched the hardwood floor, Josh grabbed her waist and pulled her back to him, "Josh!" She exclaimed._

_"You can't leave until you apologize." He mumbled into her hair. She twisted around so that she could look at him, though she regretted it because they were extremely close._

_"Then I guess I'm not leaving."_

_And she could've sworn that he whispered, "Good."_

Completely annoyed (with Josh for being annoyingly charming and at Farkle for ignoring her), she decided to leave Farkle voicemails as well.

"You better be dead because there is really no other reason you're not answering my texts or calls."

"Seriously, Farkle? I kind of need someone to talk to."

"I could be in the forest being mauled by a bear and you wouldn't know because you refuse to answer your phone!"

"This is the last time I call you for advice! I don't need it anyway."

There would've been more voicemails to come because Maya was relentless but the sound of someone crying stopped her. Her subconscious had led her to Washington Square Park which was far enough away from Josh that she wasn't worried.

What worried her was the familiarity of the crying. Maya kept walking in the direction of the melancholy sound until she spotted cinnamon brown hair cascading over the face of Riley Matthews.

She was sitting on a stone bench with her head in her hands and people passing her by, looking curiously. Maya would've been disgusted with what people found so interesting about Riley being upset but then again, she herself was curious. Riley should be happy, she got to spend twenty minutes uninterrupted, talking to Lucas Friar (the boy she supposedly wants to marry).

"Riley?" Maya said uncertainly even though she was absolutely it _was_ Riley.

Abruptly, she lifted her head and looked around before her eyes landed on the small blonde girl in front of her, "Maya! Uh, hi."

Maybe she should've just kept walking.

No! Riley seemed like she needed someone to talk to based on how upset she looked. Her brown eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks looked blotchy. She wasn't wearing what typical royals wore, she just wore sweats, a hoodie and her beat up beige (originally white) converse.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" Without an invitation, Maya took it upon herself to sit on the bench next to her ex best friend, ready to listen.

But she simply shook her head, "It's not a big deal. I'm just overreacting, besides I'm sure you have better things to do then listen to the dumb things that are happening in my life."

Not really...

Besides, maybe she could subtly tell Riley about the conflicting emotions she's been having with Josh.

"No, it isn't. You can't keep that stuff inside, you know. It's bad for us teenagers."

Her brown eyes flicked around Maya's face, searching for any sort of tell that she was lying but Maya was sincere. Anything that was bothering Riley, she wanted to know about.

"Fine, but when I say it out loud, I feel like it's going to sound really stupid."

Maya rolled her eyes, "Just tell me!"

"So, I like this guy and I know that we can't date. It shouldn't bother me what he does and doesn't do but somehow it still does. Anyway, the guy, well I saw him kiss a girl and it just made me awful. For some reason, I thought maybe the guy liked me. It's stupid right?" The whole time, her eyes remained focused on the tainted concrete ground beneath them.

"You're too harsh on yourself sometimes, Riles. If you and the guy you like are meant to be then it'll happen, if not then you shouldn't worry about it. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

Riley sniffled, "It's weird hearing you talk about fate because the last guy that you were interested in was Uncle Josh and you didn't seem to care about fate at all." Then she laughed at the blush that came across Maya's cheeks. Even when she was blocks away, she couldn't escape that boy.

"Yeah, I guess I was really crazy about him."


	8. hearts in his eyes

**a|n - thinking about writing a lucaya story after this, (i have the first chapter written already and am really excited about writing it, i just don't know if any of you would want to read lucaya if you ship joshaya)**

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><p>Surely it was pathetic how Maya avoided Josh.<p>

She came home late after spending the day with Riley and was grateful that Josh wasn't in sight. Shawn waited up for her and asked where she'd been and she lied.

It was dumb and it wasn't like she couldn't tell Shawn anything but she was afraid he would react like Farkle had and yell at her. As much as she didn't like to admit it, Josh was the only one who didn't judge her decision and make her feel like an idiot by talking to Riley.

Maya overslept and woke up to a bunch of texts from Farkle, so the idiot was still alive. He was just an ass and didn't like to respond to her messages. Shawn wasn't in the kitchen which was probably the reason she overslept and there was a cold sandwich and coffee waiting on the table which she took quickly before dashing out the door.

"Sleeping in today?" Farkle asked, looking at her gold mess that she called hair. Grumpily, she got in the car and dropped her bag on the floor while she tried to fix the ponytail she made a few minutes ago.

"You're talking to me now? I probably left you more than fifty voicemails and texts but apparently you were too busy to talk to your best friend." She flipped her head and grabbed all of her hair to make a high ponytail.

Farkle didn't look the least bit apologetic, instead he rolled his eyes, "Don't be dramatic. I actually have a legitimate reason for not answering you."

"Oh please share. I want to know why I couldn't talk to my best friend in my time of need."

If Maya had been paying attention to his face instead of fixing the flyaways on her head, she would've seen the faint redness that graced her friend's cheeks.

He cleared his throat, "Well, the reason I didn't answer my phone on Saturday was because I went to a party. "

That got her attention. The bobby pin that had been in her mouth fell out while her mouth hung open, "You?! You never go to parties."

"Correction, I never go anywhere. But anyway, Lucas invited me to go to a party with him and I went. I'm sad to say that I gave into peer pressure and had a few drinks and I don't remember much after that. Though I _do_ remember a girl and she was beautiful and amazing and we...slept together."

Shock wouldn't be a strong enough word for Maya at that moment. Her nerdy best friend lost his virginity to some girl at a party. And she was worried about cuddling with Josh...

"You slept with a girl? Do you remember who it was?"

"That's the problem. I don't remember her face, I just remember being really happy when I was with her."

"Because you had sex with her." She guessed and was slightly disgusted at the thought.

Farkle looked insulted, "Of course not! I actually like this girl."

"Except you don't know who it was and there might be a chance they don't even go to our school."

"I don't care, I'm gonna find her. I've never felt this way about anyone."

She lifted her eyebrows in disbelief and he chuckled, "Well, I've never felt this way about anyone in high school."

* * *

><p>"Hey, you feeling better?" Maya asked Riley after entering the classroom and taking a seat next to her.<p>

"Yeah, I'm sorry about...crying. That must've been really weird for you." She looked awkward and shy which was strange because Maya has never seen her ex best friend act that way.

"I'm fine, but you're allowed to be upset about things, ya' know?" Maya grabbed the paper out of her bag and placed the paper on the table.

"I know," Riley nodded, "It's just that I think I should save my tears for something more meaningful."

Once their stuff was together with Ms. Kelly walking around observing everyone, they began answering the questions, "What are your best qualities?" Maya read from the paper and rolled her eyes, "I'm starting to think this isn't English anymore because it sounds a little like therapy."

"Watch your tongue, Ms. Hart. Wouldn't want you and Ms. Matthews to lose points just because you can't filter your thoughts." said Ms. Kelly who was closer to the pair of girls than she thought.

"Of course, Ms. Kelly. That was so rude of me, I'll make sure to whisper next time." She answered with a smile and Riley put a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles.

Glaring, their teacher made her way around the classroom, "Just get to work, Maya."

The blonde saluted before her attention returned to the brunette beside her.

"I guess subtly won't be one of the qualities we write down?" Riley laughed.

"No one told her to but in to our conversation. Besides, this stuff will be done by the end of the week anyway."

"I don't like this stuff, I never know what to write about myself." Riley nervously eyed the paper.

"Fine, I'll make it easier. How about I find stuff to say about you and you think of stuff to say about me, deal?"

The Matthews girl nodded happily before taking a pen from her purse and scribbling stuff down. Maya looked at her own paper and thought long and hard about what Riley's good qualities were.

Retelling the fight that broke up their friendship should've reminded Maya as to why the two hadn't spoken in so long. Yet, she didn't find the heart to write anything bad about her ex best friend. Writing good things about Riley felt easy.

Kind

Friendly

Excitable

Modest

There was more but Riley had cleared her throat to get her attention, "I wrote down five, how many did you write?"

"Um, I only wrote four because you didn't really give me more time."

Her face dropped a little but she tried smiling anyway, looking down at what she'd written with content, "That's fine, we'll just do four. I wrote funny, outspoken, witty, brave and loyal."

There was sadness in her face after saying the last one and Maya thought she actually looked guilty. And she kept looking at her with those sad brown eyes that were begging for her to answer her or contradict her.

Anything but stay silent.

"I didn't know being outspoken was a good thing." Said Maya with a closed lipped smile.

"Only for you, you practically say whatever you want and don't regret anything. I'm kind of jealous." Riley sighed.

A smirk appeared on Maya's lips as she lifted her eyebrow curiously at the girl beside her, "Like for what? A certain cowboy perhaps?" And she turned her head to look at him before Riley turned her around, blushing furiously.

"Would you cut it out?! I still haven't forgotten how you left me alone with him during the code red." She hissed under her breath.

"I was doing you a favor. You're gonna try to tell me that you weren't glad that you two were alone? It was lucky that Missy was absent that day too. So, you're welcome."

"I wasn't happy about it, I don't like Lucas like that." It was obviously a lie but Maya tried not to let it show that she knew that.

"Fine, whatever you say."

Riley grumbled, "You know I wish there was some guy I could tease you with."

"You can tease me about Farkle."

"No, Farkle is...Farkle. I mean a guy that you find attractive." She realized her mistake only after Maya's smirk widened.

"Does that mean that you find Lucas attractive?"

"This is what I'm talking about! If I find out there's a guy in your life, you're never going to hear the end of it."

Maya's mind drifted to Josh and his shameless flirting and it made her feel warm and fuzzy. Then Shawn's stern voice appeared in her head, "Don't tell anyone that Josh is staying with us. I mean it, Maya."

Sure, she could disobey him and tell Riley that Josh is staying with them and being annoyingly charming to her but she didn't know what that would do to Josh. It could ruin his life, maybe that was an exaggeration but still...she cared about him enough to keep his secret.

"It's a good thing there isn't one then."

"Okay, so what did you writ-" The dismissal bell cut Riley off before Maya could say what was on her list.

"Sorry I kind of strayed from the project."

Riley rolled her eyes, "No, you're not. You hate doing work but I gotta go otherwise my ride will leave me, but I do want to know what you wrote." She ripped a piece of paper and wrote down something before sliding it over to Maya.

"What is this?" She asked looking at the ten digits she'd written down.

"My number, so you can text me your answers. Don't you need it?"

"Of course not, Riley. I already have your number, do you need mine?" Maya was really hoping the answer was no. It would be kind of humiliating to find out that she was the only one that kept the other's numbe-

"No, I would never delete your number. Why would you..." An alarm system must've gone off in her head because Riley immediately shut up and grew timid. The amount of time they would've stayed there standing like idiots couldn't be measured because Lucas's southern voice cut through the awkward silence,

"Riley, you coming?" He stood at the doorway with his bag slung over his shoulder and Missy peering into the half empty classroom with an annoyed look on her face.

"Yeah, I-I'm coming. I'll text you later, Maya." She whispered the last part before jogging over to the cowboy that practically had hearts in his eyes when he looked at her.


	9. i'm not your girlfriend

It was strange not having Josh disrupt her sleep the night before.

Apparently he had been in his room taking care of stuff on the phone by the time she got home and hadn't left to do who knows what. She couldn't listen in because he was whispering and it'd be too obvious if she put her ear on the door while Shawn was there.

Maya did receive a good night sleep though, Riley had texted her like she said and seemed really happy with how Maya described her.

She woke up stretching, ready to drink her coffee before she saw her mother's tan legs that led to her mother's half naked body. She definitely went blind.

"What the hell?!" Maya screeched before shielding her eyes. Her mom was at the stove cooking eggs with one of Shawn's button downs on and definite sex hair. Her husband was standing right next to her laughing at his stepdaughter's reaction.

"Maya Hart, watch your mouth!" Katy Hart was almost as red as her daughter. She slapped her Shawn's arm as he continued to laugh before crying, "You said she went to school already!"

"Did I? I must've confused the times. She doesn't leave at 6:30, she leaves at 7:30." He even hit his forehead like he had truly forgotten when Maya went to school. Because it wasn't like he saw her go to school everyday or anything.

"You're evil." Maya seethed with her hands still over her eyes.

"You know what? You can cook your own eggs." Maya heard the softs pats of her mother's feet hitting the tiled kitchen floor before it disappeared down the hall. It was then that she dropped her hands just in time to see Shawn speed down the hallway after her shouting, "Katy!"

Maya turned the stove off before groaning at the lack of her daily coffee and sandwich.

Why did her parents have to act like horny teenagers sometimes?

* * *

><p>Having lunch with Farkle and Isadora is usually a treat in Maya's opinion.<p>

Isadora would harass Farkle beyond comprehension and Maya would laugh. Farkle would grumble about life not being fair or why did (of all girls) Isadora have to find him attractive.

But today's lunch felt different. Other than the fact that Farkle was the one that couldn't shut up, Isadora had remained silent. There was no 'good afternoon' or 'I made you this sandwich'. She just picked at her PB&J while Farkle rambled on.

"I think I know a way to find her, Maya."

"Find who?"

"The girl I met at the party! I think I know a way to find her."

Maya quit playing with the lettuce in her salad, "Go on."

"I'm going to do interviews for the girl. I'll just put up posters and ask if the mystery girl is out there, she can come forward." He was beaming the whole time. Obviously, Farkle was proud of himself for coming up with such a brilliant idea except their was a flaw.

Every girl at this school thought Farkle was a dork, though Maya disagreed greatly. She didn't think the mystery girl would show her face just because of Farkle. But one look at his hopeful face told her that telling him the truth would crush him and she could never do that to Farkle. But she wouldn't let him humiliate himself either.

"Why don't you just forget about the girl, huh? There are plenty of girls here at John Quincy High." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly but he didn't budge.

Farkle scoffed, "Funny, you say that. Since the person you have a crush on doesn't even go he-" A swift kick under the lunch table shut him up quickly.

"There are plenty of girls for him to date, right Isadora?" The girl in question squeaked before flushing and lowering her head more like she was trying to disappear. "Are you okay? Did something happen? Because you haven't said anything all day. Especially to Farkle, he bought a new turtleneck, did you see?"

She shook her head furiously, her braids slapping her chin. Maybe Isadora was having a bad day, maybe she was getting upset with Farkle talking about another girl in front of her. The latter was probably true so Maya decided to leave her alone for now.

Focusing back on Farkle seemed like she was back at square one, he was still back on his idea of finding the girl who apparently stole his heart by having sex with him.

Well, he sure knew how to pick them.

[*]

Maya was disappointed that the class actually had to have a lesson because Ms. Kelly was being observed that day (and spontaneous projects aren't really part of the curriculum) and she didn't get a chance to talk to Riley though the two made up for it by texting like crazy after school. Even Farkle (and all his girl from the party daze) thought the two were going a little overboard with their texting.

"What could you two possibly be talking about for two hours?" Farkle groaned stretching his lanky limbs across Maya's bed.

"We're talking about how beautiful Leonardo DiCaprio looked in the 90's." She said it like it was obvious.

"I thought we were going go over Physics. You know the thing you didn't get while you were in school? The class you don't have with Riley."

Her pale fingers skimming quickly over her phone screen told Farkle that she wasn't listening to him at all. An idea popped into his head and it was something that he knew would get Maya mad but he needed her attention just for today and then she could text Riley to her heart's content.

Farkle stood up from the bed and searched for the guest room her family had. It wasn't hard because there were only three bedrooms and he smiled when he found it. He knocked twice before opening the door to find...

No one.

Disappointed, he returned to Maya's room where she remained in the same spot he left her in.

"Why isn't Josh here?" The phone almost fell on the floor when she heard his name.

"Josh? He's out doing the mysterious stuff he always does. Sorry, I kicked you before but Shawn told me that I couldn't tell anyone about Josh being here and I'm assuming it's a very important reason."

"But you told me." Farkle pointed out.

"I know but that was before I knew. And I won't be telling anyone else about Josh staying here."

"Not even Riley? Shouldn't she know?"

"His family are the people that we're hiding him from, Farkle. Keep up with the story. Riley is the last person I want to tell about her uncle staying with us."

Her skinny friend smirked, "Aw, does little Maya care about her husband, Joshua?" He proceeded with mature kissy faces and noises.

"He's not my husband, Farkle," She warned, "Did I tell you what he calls me?"

"No? I'm guessing it isn't wife?"

Maya slapped his arm, "He keeps calling me gorgeous. Even though I've told him to stop numerous times."

Farkle stopped and then whistled, "That guy has more game than I thought."

* * *

><p><em>Thump. Thump. Thump.<em>

There it goes, the familiar sound of Josh being locked outside the house.

It was embarrassing how she hesitated to get up and open the window because of the cuddling incident that happened on Sunday. Even though she shouldn't be, it's not like he asked for her hand in marriage.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

She should probably stop over-thinking things with Josh and just open the window. She threw the blankets off her body and opened the window where Josh waited with a dazzling smile.

"Good evening, gorgeous. I feel like I haven't seen you since Su-"

"Saturday. I know but you know me, I'm an early bird."

He titled his head and chuckled, "That's strange for someone who hates mornings. This doesn't have anything to do with what happened on Saturday, right?"

"Wha-What happened? It's all just a blur to me."

"You know, it's okay if you felt uncomfortable. You could just tell me." Josh looked at her like she was some fragile thing that he didn't want to break, he even stayed a safe distance away from her. She kind of felt bad for letting him think that but her actual thoughts scared her more.

Waking up next to him was actually more satisfying than she expected and her thirteen year old self was jumping for joy at the memory. Actually her seventeen year old self was happy too.

"I wasn't uncomfortable, Josh. I just had stuff to do. I'm fine." She even bravely stepped forward to take his hand which made him perk up instantly.

"Good," He intertwined their fingers, "Because the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you, Maya. I hope you know that."

Grabbing his hand might've been a bad idea. Because now he was looking at her like she was a rare star in the night sky and it was making her nervous. She dropped her hand from his,

"So, what have you been up to?"

He laughed before moving past her and laying down on her bed, "I thought we already went over this. Besides, I want to know if anything happened with you and Riley today."

"Well, yesterday we found out that we never deleted the other's number. So, we kind of spent all of the afternoon texting and it feels kind of weird in a way. It's like no time has passed at all. What?" She asked when she noticed his lips quirk up a bit.

"Nothing, I just like seeing you happy."

Her cheeks grew warm and she muttered, "Farkle was right."

"Right about what?"

"Nothing, just...he pointed out how flirtatious you are. It must come in handy when since you go out all the time." Ugh, she sounded like a girlfriend who was trying to test her boyfriend to see if he was cheating. She should've just stopped talking.

Josh sat up and approached her, "Is that what you think I do when I leave? That I go out and flirt with other girls?" He didn't look insulted, just very curious which Maya never liked.

"You shouldn't care what I think. I'm not your girlfriend." Those four words seemed to snap Josh out of some trance because he looked incredibly confused, he actually looked a little hurt.

"No...you're not," His eyes didn't meet hers and his tall body was backing away from her and to the door, "Um, good night, Maya."

Had he thought that they were...? No, he was the one who rebuffed her advances years ago. Maybe it was because he called her 'Maya' instead of 'gorgeous' (a nickname she was just starting to grow fond of). Or maybe it was because this was the first time they talked about their relationship status, all he had done was kiss her cheek and hand, he even held it when she told him about Riley.

They never kissed, they were never together and she could feel the once playful mood of their relationship disappear just as quickly as Josh did.


	10. not the right moment

**a|n - thank you all for reviewing/following and favoriting, it means the world!**

* * *

><p>Maya refused to be pranked by Shawn again.<p>

She proceeded into the kitchen with caution the next morning. If she saw the tiniest bit of her mother's legs or any other body part that would normally be covered up, she'd make a mad dash to her room.

When she opened her door to step out and scope the area, a mustard colored sticky note was on her door. It was sloppy handwritting and Maya guessed that it was Josh because Shawn was normally awake at this time and her mother's handwriting was impeccable.

She should know after all the times she's forged her mother's signature.

_I don't flirt with other girls when I go out..._

_I'm already interested in someone_

Her stomach plummeted, he was already interested in someone else.

There was no way Maya could compete with someone who was most likely Josh's age and not in high school. Why would he tell her that though? Did he want her to be jealous? Was he being an asshole?

She didn't know or care because she crumbled the paper and threw it in the garbage. Josh didn't need to rub it in her face that he was seeing someone, all he had to do was stop charming her and remain loyal to that lucky girl.

If only that were possible when it came to him.

* * *

><p>"You look chipper." Farkle noted as Maya slammed the car door before the pulled away from her house.<p>

Her eyes remained shut before she took a deep breath and looked at her best friend, "Sorry, it's just that Josh is so infuriating not to mention confusing."

"What did hubby do now?"

She scowled before continuing, "We were talking and I told him that he's really flirty and it must come in handy since he goes out all the time then suddenly he's like, 'you think i flirt with other girls when i go out' and i said, 'it doesn't matter what you do for me because it's not like i'm your girlfriend'. And he looked like he just realized we weren't a thing and just acted weird. He freakin' left me a note that said he's interested in someone already too. Why would I want to know that anyway?"

Farkle was glancing at her from the corner of his eye, smirking. He obviously failed to see the stress his best friend was going through, "You two are weird. Why don't you just kiss and get over it?"

"I do _not_ want to kiss him! Besides he's interested in someone else, not some stupid high school girl. I feel so stupid." She muttered the last part under her breath, hoping Farkle wouldn't hear how pathetic she sounded.

Of course, he did anyway and it made his playful demeanor disappear. "Hey, Maya? You're not stupid and any guy would be lucky to date you no matter what grade level you're in. I'm sure Josh knows that too, guys just don't know how to deal with emotions."

"Speaking of guys and emotions, do you know what you're going to do about your mystery girl?" Maya asked, eager to change the subject.

"So, I'm thinking of starting the interviews today. You think I'll get in trouble?"

"I know you're going to get in trouble. And I already told you to drop it. If the girl wanted to be found, she probably would've come out of hiding already." Maya sighed deeply.

"Are you saying that she doesn't want to see me?" There was panic in his voice which was something that she didn't want. Farkle deserved to find someone that made him happy.

"No," She replied quickly, "Some girls don't like to think of one night stands especially when it's with some stranger."

Farkle seemed to consider it before grinning widely, "I'll do something so romantic, it'll be impossible for her to be embarrassed."

"Don't do anything stupid please."

"What makes you think I'm going to do something stupid?"

"Because it's you." Maya laughed.

* * *

><p>"Riley? Riley?" The blonde waved her hand in front of the hypnotized girl's face before she finally snapped out of it. Her brown lovesick eyes would travel towards the back of the room where a certain southern boy was looking at her with the same level of bliss.<p>

"Yes? I'm sorry, were you saying something?" It was obvious Maya still didn't have Riley's attention by the way her eyes flicked from Maya's face to Lucas.

"Actually, yes. You can stare at Lucas after school, we have to answer these questions."

Riley flushed, "How did you know I was looking at Lucas?"

"Because I have eyes." She replied like it was obvious before looking at the paper with their questions, "So, who do you miss most?"

"Who's yours?" Riley said and seemed to be having difficulty keeping her eyes on the blonde in front of her.

"Well, my grandma probably. I kind of miss doing old people stuff like play Scrabble when she was here. I never get a chance to visit her at her retirement home because of how far away it is."

Riley jot it down before sighing sadly, "Well, the person I miss most would be my Uncle Josh," Maya's heart leaped into her throat.

"Why's that?"

"After he enrolled in college, he was able to visit us whenever he wanted so he came over a lot. But now, apparently he ran away. My dad has been looking for him for a week now and things have been so tense and we got a call from his coll—"

If she were going to say anymore, it was cut off by the beep of the intercom turning on. Maya expected another type of drill from the principal but instead she heard the eccentric voice of her best friend, "Is this on? Testing? Testing."

"Oh my God." Maya facepalmed and felt secondary humiliation for what Farkle was about to do.

"Is that Farkle?" asked a curious Riley. All Maya did was nod as Farkle continued, satisfied that the whole school could hear him.

"Alright fellow classmates, I'm making this announcement to ask about a girl that I met on Saturday. It was at a party and I remember it being one of the best nights of my life. Mystery girl, if you're out there, just know that Farkle Minkus aka your prince charming is waiting for you with open arms. You can call me at this number 2-Mr. Minkus, get back to class!" A voice interrupted Farkle ignorantly saying his phone number out to the public for which Maya was grateful.

The class returned to its usual buzzing of talking and gossip but all Maya could think about was how horrible Farkle's speech was. There was no possible way that she was going to reveal herself now.

"That was...romantic." Riley said uncomfortably.

"And humiliating. My best friend is an idiot."

"I'm sure the girl found it entertaining, I know I would've," Riley giggled, "But, we should get back to the assignment."

That topic really didn't put her at ease, "Right, you said you miss your Uncle Josh. Do you know why he ran away?"

Riley shook her head, "Nope, my dad said that it was a long story and I wasn't really in the mood to listen. I just know that Josh running away was kind of a big deal."

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, it's not like you're keeping him hidden away from us." It was meant to be a joke but it didn't make Maya laugh, it made her sick with the guilt she could bubbling up inside her.

* * *

><p>She really needed to do laundry.<p>

Her room looked like a tornado just passed through, there was no way that she would be able to distinguish the clean clothes from the dirty ones.

That was Maya Hart's dilemma at eight o'clock at night, she couldn't find her pajamas.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Oh hell no. No, no, no.

She wasn't even dressed and he was knocking on her window. And after the awkward thing yesterday, you would think the boy would want to some alone time and bring his keys when he left.

Hurriedly, she found some sweats and a baggy t-shirt and ran to open the window.

Josh's dark eyes analyzed her face before they dropped to Maya's shirt. His head hit the top of her window with a bang and he winced. He continued to climb in through the window, holding his head and groaning.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just got distracted." He dared to steal a glance at her shirt once more as it let her pale bare shoulders peek out.

"Distracted by what?"

It was probably the first time she's ever seen him blush and damn...it was adorable, "Your-uh shirt, Maya."

"My what?" Only when she looked down did she realize what had distracted him. The neckline of the shirt she had thrown on was large and didn't leave much to the imagination. Her arms immediately wrapped around her chest area, and her cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

"It was an accident, I swear. I didn't mean to look."

Even with his apology, Maya couldn't bare to look at him without feeling exposed, "Do you-uh need an ice pack or something?"

"If you don't mind."

Maya darted out of her room, thankful to be away from his intimidating eyes.

When she returned, she found Josh still standing around awkwardly and was slightly happy that she wasn't the only one that felt uncomfortable with everything. "You should probably be sitting. You hit your head pretty hard, you should relax."

He followed her instruction and sat on the bed while Maya set the ice wrapped in two layers of paper towel down beside him so she could find something to cover herself with. Something that resembled a hoodie was laying in front of her wardrobe, so she quickly threw it on before going to her bed where Josh was delicately tapping the ice against his head.

"Is that helping at all?" Maya asked though she knew the answer.

"Slowly but surely."

She rolled her eyes before sitting down beside him on the bed and taking the make-shift ice pack and pressing it against the side of his head, "You are such a baby. If you don't apply the ice right, it won't get better."

He hissed in pain before whispering, "I am sorry, you know."

"I know, Josh. You apologized when you came in."

"No," He looked determined and stern (a new look on him), "I'm not talking about your shirt anymore, I'm talking about last night. It was weird and I'm sorry if I crossed a line-"

"You didn't do anything, Josh," He was still frowning so she offered him a small smile, "Honest. I'm just confused as to what we are."

His eyes connected with hers and she suddenly realized how close they were getting. Her arm wasn't as extended to keep the ice against Josh's head and their fingers were slowly moving forward towards each other.

"I think," His eyes fell to her lips as he moved closer, "that you and I are..." Her eyes were closed now and her lips were waiting. Her heart was thumping like crazy and she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She could feel his breath on her nose and it smelled weird (was it alcohol?) and then the ghost of his lips.

She pulled away slightly, before going forward to meet his welcoming lips.

The window slammed shut suddenly and made the two of them jump apart.

Damn the wind, Maya thought grumpily.

Josh rose from the bed before falling back down on the bed, "Josh!" Maya said, alarmed.

"Gorgeous? My head hurts." He whined.

"I know, Josh. I need you to come closer to me so I can put ice on it."

He shook his head, "I can't. I might do something bad."

"What are you going to do that's so bad?" She came closer to him despite his protests holding tightly to the paper towels.

"I might try to kiss you again." He whispered.

"And what's so bad about that?" Maya found herself whispering back. It was horrible of her to want him, she knew that. Josh was interested in another girl and here she was waiting for him to kiss her. She was leaning over him now and his eyes were starting to shut. Before he fell asleep though, he said,

"Not the right moment."


End file.
